The Bet
by Lyria Padfoot
Summary: MWPP/Girlfriends (see my other fics for more fun with the ladies!) The Mauraders make a bet with their girlfriends. Can they live an entire week without pranking? And what will happen if they can't? Fun with pranks and punishments. Please R/R!!!
1. Monday...

Summary: Can the Mauraders spend an entire week without pranks? And what  
  
will their girlfriends make them do if they can't?  
  
A/N: This uses two characters from my "Before they were Legends" Series. If  
  
you read the series, just place this little gem after the 7th Year Yule Ball.  
  
You don't have to read that to read this!  
  
Disclaimer: It belongs to J.K. Rowling if you recognize it. Lyria Strider and  
  
Lyndell Greenleaf belong to their respective owners on the Platform 9 ¾  
  
RPG.  
  
  
  
Day 1: Monday  
  
Lyria Strider stormed out of the girls' bathroom with red-and-gold striped hair and an Avada Kedavra look on her face. "They're dead!" She screeched furiously. "We have Quidditch practice today, and I am *not* playing like this!"  
  
"House spirit, you know!" Sirius cried delightedly from where the four Mauraders waited at the top of the stairs.  
  
"You'd better watch carefully, or I'll be hitting *you* with the bludger!" Lyria hurriedly uncharmed her hair. "And I won't even ask how you got into the girls' bathroom, nevermind what you were doing with my shampoo!"  
  
"Magic," Sirius intoned solemnly as the three girls joined the four boys on the stairs.  
  
"Pranking your girlfriend really isn't too bright," Lily warned.  
  
"Must come from them all sharing the same brain," Lyria snapped. Sirius gave her an apologetic look and tried to hold her hand, but she pulled it away with a glare.  
  
"They couldn't live a week without their pranks," Lyndell chimed in.  
  
"Yes we could!" James insisted.  
  
"Yeah, we don't *have* to prank..." Sirius informed them.  
  
"It's just more fun," Remus finished.  
  
"Yeah!" Peter put in.  
  
"You're right, Lyri, they *do* share a brain," Lily muttered.  
  
"I have an idea," Lyria murmured back with a mischievous grin. Then she addressed the boys. "What are you four willing to bet on that?"  
  
The Mauraders gave her a blank stare.  
  
The eldest Strider daughter continued. "I bet you all that you can't stop pranking for a week. Not even a week—just until Friday. Every time you play a prank, we get to punish you as we see fit."  
  
"You're on!" James declared, speaking for the group as usual.  
  
"Wait!" Sirius ordered. "What's in it for us? If I'm not allowed to torture Snape, I expect to be compensated daily." He gave Lyria a suggestive look.  
  
"If you think I'm going to..." She began.  
  
"Nah, you're right," Sirius agreed. "You'd enjoy it too much, and it's not fair to Peter because his girlfriend's not a Gryffindor."  
  
"I'd *enjoy* it too much?!?" Lyria snatched up her wand, but Dell and Lily dragged her out of firing range.  
  
"If Kylie Prewett agrees, you four have yourselves a bet!" Lily cried to the Mauraders.  
  
  
  
  
  
Sadly for the ladies, the Mauraders made it—with much difficulty—through the entire day without a single prank.  
  
"You know what that means?" Sirius flashed Lyria his most charming grin. The other Mauraders—and noticeably, their girlfriends—had vanished.  
  
"Yes, Padfoot," Lyria sighed patiently. "But are you sure you wouldn't rather I just do your homework or something?"  
  
"I most certainly would not," he replied with a decisive grin.  
  
"If you're sure..." Lyria gave him a devious smile and, taking his hand, led him out of the common room.  
  
  
  
"She shoved me off a desk!" Sirius yelped indignantly as he threw open the door to the seventh year boys' dormitory. "We were snogging, and we were sitting on a desk, and she smiled, and she broke the kiss and she pushed me—" The others were laughing now. "And I fell off the bloody desk!" He finished.  
  
"You got lucky, then," Remus said with a moan. "Lyndell slapped me, and Prongs got punched in the eye, and little Kylie sprained Wormtail's ankle."  
  
"Time to plot revenge," James said grimly, holding an ice pack to his face.  
  
"We can't—they'll have an excuse to make us suffer." Sirius flopped out on his bed.  
  
"So they get away with it." James sighed.  
  
The four shared a sad look. 


	2. Tuesday...

Day 2: Tuesday  
  
  
  
The next morning, Lyria woke up to a rather empty room. Lily and Lyndell (along with most of the school) had already left for breakfast. She hopped out of bed and got dressed hurriedly, then ran down the stairs. On the way down she spotted four familiar figures...  
  
"Having fun?" She asked. Peter let out a rather terrified sounding squeak. Sirius, standing on Remus' shoulders and holding a rope with a heavy pewter cauldron attached., fell and dropped the rope, making Remus collapse in a pile as Sirius fell on top of him. James turned to help his friends when he was conked in the head by the cauldron that dropped out of nowhere.  
  
"Lyria! Morning!" James managed, studiously avoiding the stars that swirled around his head.  
  
"Pranking, are you?" she asked.  
  
"Maybe—er, no! No of course not!" Remus spluttered.  
  
With a smile, Lyria pointed her wand at Sirius. Before he had time to react, he was clothed from head to toe in pink. "AAAH!" He let out a startled yelp.  
  
"Punishment as we see fit, remember?" Lyria gave him the devious smile again. "Don't worry you three, I'm sure your girlfriends will have something equally painful waiting for you."  
  
They groaned collectively.  
  
  
  
  
  
Laughing, Sirius tugged on one of James' pigtails.  
  
James glared. "Would you stop that?" He asked, helping Remus as Remus tripped over his shoes again.  
  
"How do girls walk in these things?? I haven't had them on for five minutes and my feet hurt already," Remus complained, tripping over the five inch heels again. "But I *am* taller than you two now."  
  
"Yeah, and your shoes match my robes," Sirius smirked.  
  
Peter walked behind, carrying Kylie's books as well as his own. "I have such a great girlfriend," he told his friends with a bright smile.  
  
Remus stuck out a heeled shoe to trip him.  
  
The Mauraders were on their way to Potions with Slytherin, all of them sporting various punishments.  
  
At the sight of them, Lucius Malfoy & Severus Snape burst into laughter. "What a lovely fashion statement, Black," Snape sneered.  
  
"At least my hair's clean," Sirius pointed out. "Unlike a certain Slytherin I know..."  
  
"They're just letting out their feminine sides, Severus," Malfoy explained. "We all know they're sleeping together anyway."  
  
BOOM.  
  
James hit Snape with an itching curse, while Sirius' attack of choice was a constipation curse which hit Malfoy squarely between the eyes. The two hurried off to the hospital wing, Snape scratching while Malfoy just looked uncomfortable.  
  
"I learned that one from Lyri," Sirius admitted to his friends.  
  
"Did that qualify as a prank?" Peter asked.  
  
Remus looked around. "We're safe. They're nowhere in sight—must be in class already."  
  
James and Sirius shared a look. James glanced at Remus, who merely nodded.  
  
"I missed something," Peter muttered.  
  
"As usual," Remus replied.  
  
"Mauraders' meeting tonight. Usual place. Usual time."  
  
  
  
"We aren't going to be able to do this," James told his friends. They had slipped out of Gryffindor Tower and down to the Shrieking Shack with a little help from the invisibility cloak.  
  
"It's part of who we are. It keeps school interesting, it keeps everyone on their toes, and it keeps us sane," Sirius said, "And it was awful of them to try and stop it."  
  
"Spoken like a true Maurader," James chimed in.  
  
"And there's no way they'll let us out of it. They're enjoying it way too much," Remus sighed, sparing a glance at his aching, pinched feet.  
  
"Well, maybe we can make sure we don't get caught..." Peter suggested hopefully.  
  
"If we *do* get caught, they'll kill us," Remus pointed out.  
  
"Well then it looks like we're in for a week of extreme suffering at the hands of our girlfriends." James said sadly.  
  
"Wait a minute. What kind of talk is that? These are nice, respectable girls we're all dating. You know, the type that'll punish us for even the stupid little pranks," Sirius said. The others looked at him. "If they're going to make us suffer, we'd better make it worth it."  
  
"Ideas?" Peter asked, wide-eyed.  
  
"Oh, yes," Sirius replied. "Always."  
  
The others gave the mastermind prankster a quill and a roll of parchment, and he began explaining his plans. 


	3. Wednesday...

Part 3: Wednesday...  
  
Lyria woke up. The clock by her bed told her it was 3:30 A.M. Way too early to be awake. But she could have sworn she heard something outside the door... She sat up.  
  
Lyndell was out of bed already, one ear pressed to the door. "I can't tell what's going on," she mouthed to Lyri. "Should we wake Lily?"  
  
Lyri shook her head no, and the noises stopped almost instantly. She shrugged, rolled over, and went back to sleep.  
  
  
  
Lily was the first one awake the next morning, and the room smelled absolutely horrible when she did. Someone had set off a dungbomb right outside the door, a fresh one, and there was only one group of people she knew of that would do it. The Head Girl leapt out of bed and slammed open the door, hoping to catch them in the act as Lyria had done yesterday.  
  
Lyria was awakened by a thud, two splashes, and two screams.  
  
Lily had been doused with freezing water immediately upon opening the door. Sirius was standing on a ladder above the door. When Lyndell had rushed over to investigate the first scream, Peter had thrown a bucket of water at her as well. The hallway was chaos.  
  
Then James and Remus slipped into the room and released a box full of spiders.  
  
Lyria Strider was afraid of only one thing—spiders.  
  
She let out a chilling scream.  
  
It took Professor McGonagall about a minute to arrive on the scene. "WHAT IS GOING ON?" She demanded.  
  
Lily tried to explain, but realized she wasn't quite sure what had happened. "They did it!" She finally managed, pointing at the four Mauraders.  
  
Lyria continued to scream.  
  
The Professor calmed Lyria down, removed the spiders, and marched the Mauraders up to her office. "What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall turned to face the boys.  
  
"Well, um, we wanted to wake them up." Remus looked away to hide the grin on his face.  
  
Peter's face had drained of color, and he didn't even try to anything but stare at McGonagall in terror.  
  
"Some of this school's most promising students..." She began. "And you, Mr. Potter! Head Boy!"  
  
"Well, who else would come up with such a perfect plan? That took a lot of work to pull off, you know," Sirius told her.  
  
"I don't think you're helping," James muttered.  
  
Sirius grinned. "Who said I was trying to?"  
  
"It was your idea!" James yelped.  
  
"But you thought of the water."  
  
"I don't care who thought of what!" McGonagall told them. "I'll see you all in Detention this evening."  
  
  
  
"Did you see Lyndell's face?" Peter chuckled.  
  
"Poor Lyria, though, I really almost felt bad," Remus confessed.  
  
The four were laughing and joking over breakfast, waiting for the girls to arrive.  
  
"Not afraid your Strider girlfriend is going to beat you up, Pretty- Boy Padfoot?" James quipped.  
  
"*Me?* You're the one with the Red-Headed Monster for a girlfriend, *Jamie.* What do you think, Moony? I figure Prongs is dead." Sirius smirked.  
  
"Definitely." A voice said, and booted footsteps stopped behind Sirius. Lyria was standing there. "I didn't appreciate your brilliant little prank, Sirius."  
  
He knew he was in trouble from the minute she called him by his full first name rather than one of the several names she'd pinned on him. "Now Lyria, you know I'd never do something that I thought would really freak you out..." Sirius began.  
  
Lyria growled, more frighteningly than either Moony or Padfoot could have managed in any form. "You already have."  
  
The rumor that went around the school was that something at the Gryffindor table exploded, for there was nothing that petite little Lyria could have done to land Sirius on the floor that fast.  
  
"DO YOU KNOW HOW HUMILIATING THAT WAS?!?" Lyria bellowed. "The entire school knows all about it!!! How do you expect people to react?!? Seven people have asked me if I'm okay, and the Slytherins are already making fun!!"  
  
Sirius honestly looked sorry, but he knew better than to say much with Lyria so outraged. "I..."  
  
James jumped to his feet. "It was my idea!"  
  
Lyria raised an eyebrow and sat down at the table as if nothing had happened. "I'm listening."  
  
Sirius carefully got to his feet and sat back down.  
  
"Well, uh..." James put on his best innocent look and prepared to make up his story as he went. "I wanted to scare Lily, and I figured all girls were scared of spiders. The water was just to distract you all, you know, so we could let them loose. I didn't know you were so terrified of them, Lyria, I'm sorry."  
  
"But, James, you know I'm *not* scared of spiders..." Lily began, but James shook his head frantically at her.  
  
Lyria noticed. "Sirius, was this your idea?"  
  
Sirius gulped. "I thought it would be funny, I had no idea..."  
  
Lyri's fist connected solidly with Sirius' nose. "No. I don't want your bloody excuses. In fact, I'll be perfectly happy if I never hear anything from you ever again, Sirius Black." With that, Lyria got to her feet and left the Great Hall.  
  
"You didn't have any breakfast!" Peter called after her. She ignored him.  
  
Lily turned to Sirius. "Are you okay?"  
  
"She's broken my nose before. Remember fifth year? I'll just run up to the Hospital Wing after I eat," Sirius said flatly.  
  
But, as Remus noticed, Sirius may have addressed the broken nose, but not the broken heart Remus feared had come with it. 


	4. Thursday...

Part 4: Thursday…  
  
  
  
"I don't believe she broke up with him. I mean, I think she had a right, it *was* an awful trick, but… even by Lyria's standards, that's pretty harsh." Lyndell said.  
  
"I think so too," Lily confessed. "But he really ought to have known better. It took them almost six and a half years here at Hogwarts to get together, and they've known each other all their lives. It's so sad that it's just getting tossed aside like leftover casserole from Tuesday."  
  
Lyndell paused to think about Lily's analogy. "There are some things that I don't think I'll ever understand about Muggle life. Leftover casserole??"  
  
"Nevermind, it's not important. I hope Lyria calms down and starts speaking to him again."  
  
"I'll talk to her at Quidditch practice. I just hope she doesn't attack him with the bludger," Lyndell said.  
  
  
  
After class, James hurried up to the dormitory he shared with his three best friends and two others. "By dinner today, we have to get him back to normal," James told Remus and Peter determinedly. "He's not interested in pranks. He didn't do *anything* yesterday to get detention, and he just went to the library to finish his Transfiguration essay."  
  
"What's wrong with that?" Peter asked.  
  
"It's not due until Monday. He should be waking up early that morning and writing it at breakfast." Remus sighed.  
  
"Something must really be wrong with him, then. More than usual, I mean," Peter said.  
  
"Lyria. Of course, he'd *never* admit it, but he misses her." Remus said quietly. "Or didn't you notice that this started at breakfast yesterday?"  
  
"I thought maybe Madam Pomfrey gave him something when he went up to get his nose fixed," Peter muttered.  
  
James decided not to comment. "So we have to get them back together." He thought for a moment. "Who's been making fun of her worst?"  
  
"Malfoy. I imagine Snape's a bit afraid to be too mean, as he's going out with her sister." Remus looked at his friend. "Prongs, are you having an idea?"  
  
"I'm thinking." James replied.  
  
"Didn't we warn you about that stuff?" Remus said wryly.  
  
James grinned. "I have a plan. Not as good as something Padfoot would come up with, but… it just might work."  
  
  
  
Lily, Lyria, and Lyndell arrived for lunch just a bit early. Lily sat next to James, and Lyndell sat next to Remus, leaving Lyria's usual seat next to Sirius open. Lyria gave Dell a look.  
  
"Oh, honestly!" The elf snapped, but she moved to sit next to Sirius and let Lyria sit in Dell's seat.  
  
Partway through the meal, a frightened yelp came from the Slytherin table as Lucius Malfoy's plate suddenly turned into a giant spider and ran across the table.  
  
Lyria merely glanced at the spider, then at everyone else at the table. "Who's idea?" She asked.  
  
James piped up. "You know Padfoot comes up with most of our pranks."  
  
Lyria threw her arms around a rather startled Sirius. "I guess I overreacted a bit," she admitted.  
  
No one noticed Remus Lupin pocketing his wand with a pleased smile on his face.  
  
  
  
"Thanks, you guys," Sirius said to his friends later that afternoon.  
  
"We need you. Tomorrow's Friday, and we haven't planned our daily prank," James explained with a smile at his best friend. "Got any ideas, Padfoot?"  
  
"Always. And I've been meaning to talk to you guys about this," Sirius replied, wearing a solemn look. "I have devised the best prank in Hogwarts history."  
  
"Really?" Peter gasped.  
  
"Yep!" Sirius said with a grin. "And we really don't need any special supplies. Just four really good dungbombs, our wands, ourselves, and the invisibility cloak. Oh, and," Sirius pulled a huge old book out of his bookbag. "*This.*"  
  
"A book of spells and charms?" James looked doubtful.  
  
"You used the *library*??" Remus gasped.  
  
"Yes, Prongs." Sirius chose to ignore Remus. "There's some pretty cool stuff in here. I was at the library looking for something to read yesterday, and…"  
  
"Did you have to use the Maurader's Map to find your way there?" Peter asked.  
  
"I think I'm going to pass out… Sirius Black at the library?? For *fun*?" Remus muttered.  
  
"Shut *up*, Moony. You two are just jealous because my natural intelligence is so much higher than yours, I don't have to use the library. But I think Madam Pince was pretty surprised to see me. Awfully helpful witch, she is," Sirius said, chuckling. "Knew just where I could find a copy of the spell the school founders used to charm the ceiling in the Great Hall. Clever lady." Sirius' grin widened.  
  
The others shared a confused look. "Padfoot, have you got a point?" James asked.  
  
Sirius glanced around the dormitory. The four were alone. He pulled a roll of parchment out from under his bed and opened the book… 


	5. Friday... The Week Ends

Part 5: Friday…  
  
  
  
"Are you sure it worked?" Peter asked, looking up at the ceiling- sky.  
  
"It's going to rain this morning. We'll find out," Remus assured Peter.  
  
"Now what?" James asked.  
  
"Now we move on to part two." Sirius got right down to business when it came to pranks. "We get the dungbombs ready. James, you're in charge of the one in Gryffindor Tower. Remember, we run to the Great Hall with the rest of the school. We'll meet there."  
  
James nodded and hurried off. Sirius had decided that he should handle Gryffindor Tower in case they got caught—being Head Boy, he'd get it worse than the others.  
  
Sirius looked at Remus. "You have the Ravenclaw password?"  
  
"That I do. You have Hufflepuff's?" Remus asked.  
  
"I have a way in," Sirius replied. "Are you all set, Peter?"  
  
Peter nodded as well before transforming and scurrying off in the direction of the Slytherin Common Room.  
  
Whistling, Sirius walked up to a nearby portrait and tapped lightly on the frame.  
  
A sandy blonde-haired boy stood behind the portrait when it swung open. "I set up the dungbomb for you, Sirius!"  
  
"Thanks, Fletcher," Sirius told the first year.  
  
Suddenly a demanding voice was heard from the bottom of the stairs. "What are you doing?!?" Both turned toward the voice. Lauren, a girl who had wanted desperately to be a prefect but simply couldn't pass most of her classes, stood at the bottom of the stairs. "You stupid first year! You don't let Gryffindors in here! I'm going to get the head of house!"  
  
Fletcher panicked. He didn't want to get in trouble! How could he stop her? Of course, the body bind spell, he'd heard the older students use it all the time. He grabbed his wand…  
  
Lauren screamed and ran up to her dormitory as hideous purple-black boils appeared all over her face.  
  
Fletcher stared after her in horror. "Oh, I'm going to get expelled…"  
  
"Nah. I've done worse, and I'm still here," Sirius assured him. "I think you're a Maurader at heart, Fletch."  
  
With that, Sirius set off the dungbomb and slipped out of the Hufflepuff Common Room.  
  
  
  
As a revolting stench filled the Common Rooms and dormitories of Hogwarts' four houses, students fled their rooms and hurried to the Great Hall.  
  
Lily, Lyria, and Lyndell were among the hastening students. "Oh, where *are* they?" Lily muttered.  
  
"Setting off the last of the dungbombs?" Lyria suggested.  
  
"No, I can see them. They're waiting at the door," Lyndell chimed. Her sharp elven senses had let her see the Mauraders before the others.  
  
Soon, the seven were reunited, and the entire school was seated for breakfast.  
  
Lyri was the first to notice how all four boys stared at the Hall's ceiling. "Something interesting up there?" She asked.  
  
"Oh, no. Just looks like it might rain," Sirius said with a smile.  
  
As if on cue, it began to rain. Inside the Great Hall. People gasped, running about and searching for cover. It rained harder.  
  
James laughed. "We did it! It worked!"  
  
In the center of the hall, Sirius grabbed Lyria's wrists and swung her in circles, both of them soaked through, while Remus conjured an umbrella for Lyndell.  
  
The entire staff sat at the head table in shock.  
  
Minerva McGonagall was the first to compose herself. "I want to see you four in my office immediately after breakfast!" She snapped.  
  
Not even the thought of detention until they graduated could ruin the wonderful mood the Mauraders were in.  
  
  
  
"It *was* a clever prank, Minerva. Researched and everything," Albus Dumbledore told her later that day.  
  
"I can honestly say I've never been so pleased about a group of students' graduation as I am about theirs," she confessed.  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
"After they graduate," McGonagall snapped, "They'll leave." 


End file.
